Folding bed.



No. 886,622. PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

- .N. c. MERRILL.

I FOLDING BED. AP PLIOATION FILED OOT. 3,1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W M m. Nd Mn M 3 .2: i .7 5 n l u ATTORNEY PATENTED MAY 5, 1908.

N. G. MERRILL.

FOLDING BED.

APPLICATION FILED OGT. 3.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEY mun: rum. In: lwmuiusmlewn 'I r 'ish Columbia, Canada, have invented a new axis and occupies a recess in a room.

frame and to a vertically.slidable guide on actuated latch by which the bed is secured wall of a room.

NATHAN C. MERRILL, OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA.

FOLDING BED.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1908.

Application filed October a, 1906. Serial No. 337,197.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, NATHAN C. MERRILL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Vancouver, in the Province of Britand useful Folding Bed, of which the follow in is a specification.

his invention relates to an improved folding bedmounted on a wall panel, which panel is rotatable about its mid-width on a vertical On its reverse side the panel may carry aboolccase, escritoire or other article of parlor furniture.

The device is )articularly designed for use in the rooms oi apartment houses where a maxi-mum of accommodation is required in a minimum of space; as the parlor furniture may be exposed during the day, and the panel may be rotated to expose the bed when re uired.

he bed is pivotally supported on ln'ackets' secured to the rotating panel, and the head frame of the bed is hinged to the bed underthe panel, that the bed may be folded vertically against the panel when not required. There are also supplementary features in the matter of springs to facilitate the foldingof the bed, and also means for automatically securin the bed in the in use position, to all of which attention is drawn in the following specification which fully describes my invention and the manner of its operation, reference being made to the drawings by which it is accompanied in which:

Fi ure. 1 is a vertical section through the mid le of the panel, showing in full lines the bed in the in use position and indicating by dot and dash lines its position when folded up against the panel, and when partially up, Fig. 2, a sectional detail to an enlarged scale of the pivot footstep'of the panel, Figs. 3 and 4, details in elevation and plan of the spring in the in use position, Fig. 5, a front elevation of the panel showing the bed in the in use position, and Fig. 6, a'sectional plan of the same on the line A A in Fig. 5.

In these drawings 4 represents the level of the floor and 3 the frame of a recess in the A strongly framed panel 2 fits the opening of the recess, the width of such panel is such as willpermit a bed of the desired width swinging in the o penin of the recess when such bed is folded up against the panel, and the height'of the panel sufficient to allow the bed so folded to pass through the aperture. The bed thus determines the dimensions of the panel and the o )ening to the recess which it is designed to fill, the dimension of the article of furniture which is secured to the other face of the panel being,

under ordinary circumstances of secondary importance. The panel 2 is mounted about its midwidth on pivots 5 and (5, respectively in the top frame 3 of the recess and the floor vertically beneath, so that the panel 2 may be rotated to expose either face as desired to the room. These )ivots 5 and 6 may be rovided with ball bearings, and as the our pivot 6 is required to sustain a considerable weight it will be provided with asuitable footstep bearing to maintain the lower edge of the panel 2 clear of the floor i. This foot-- step will preferabtv be made somewhat as illustrated in Fig. 2, with a series of small balls between V shaped annular grooves suitably protected from dust.

The panel 2 may be secured in the to close the recess, either by a door ordinary construction or by a hidden latch operated say by the foot. To one face of this panel 2 may be securely fastened, so to be clear of the floor, acupboard or escritoire and book-case, as represented by 7 in the drawings, or any article of room furniture position atch of which the circumstances of the case may rcquire, the outer corners of whatever article is used being kept within the radius of swing of the panel so as to clear the frame 3 of the recess. To the opposite face. of the panel 2 is secured the folding bed. This consists of a rectangular bed frame 10 of the desired length and width to carry the mattress, to the outer end of which bed frame is secured the foot frame ll.

The bed frame It) is furnished toward the head end with a cross shaft 12 the ends of which rest in bearings in stout brackets 13 secured to, and outwardly projecting from, the panel 2 outside the width of the bed frame It), the bearings of the shaft in the brackets 13 being at the desired height of the bed from the floor.

The head frame 15 is hinged to the end member of the rectangular frame 10, and the middle of the upper rail of it is hinged to a .slide block 17 vertically slidable in a recessed swinging legs 14 conncctei to the bed frame 10 'a sh rt distance from the foot end.

It wil be noticed that, as the weight to be borne by the bed is carried by the bearings of e shaft 12 and by the swinging legs 14 which are both situated a distance within from the head and foot respectively of the bed frame 10, that frame may he structurally much lighter than is necessarr m hcdsteads of ordinary construction where the supports are, at the extreme ends of the bed frame.

owa'rd the upper end of the guide 18, to engage the under side of the slide block '17 when such slide is at the limit of its upward movement, is a latch 20 pivoted on a pin 21 and having a spring 24, which spring actu ated latch wil automatically secure the bed in the down or "in use 7 position. This latch 20, see Figs. 3 and 4, is produced beyond. its

pivot )in 21 to form a tail portion 22 which iscurvet across the widtlro the guide 18 so as to. )roject in the path of the slide block 17, and its end is outwardly turned slightly to engage and be retained by a spring latch 23 on thc opposite side ofthc path of the slide block 17 in itsguide. The object of this is that when the upper end of the latch 20 is withdrawn from engagement with the underside slide block 17, it will he retainedin such 1 position of disengagement by the spring latch '23 while the person proceeds to the foot of the bed to lift it up, and the projection of the tail end 22 across the path of the guide is de signed to provide that the downward movement of the slide block 17 when the hed is being lifted,-will free the latch tail 22 from ongagement with 23 so as to leave the lat-ch 20 in, its normal )osition to latch and automatically secure the bed in the in use position.

The head of the bed frame '1 is made extra heavy to counter-balance the foot end of it, which end extends further from the fulcrum shaft 12 on which it moves, and to supplement this weight counter-balance and to furnish an excess of pressure tending to lift the foot end of the bed from the floor, a cord or chain 25 is attached on each side to the head of the bed frame'and passed round pulleys '26 situated at the lower front of each side bracket 13, and in the foot of the panel 2,. and these cords are connected to-springs 27.. at the back .of the panel; The springs will thus exert their greatestefi'ort when the bed is. extended and in the in use position,

as shown in full lines in Fig-1.1 The springs will exert their least effort when the bed ism itstvertical or up-ended position, i. e., in the osition shown complete in dot and dash ines in Fig. 1, andat that point the springs the bed isffiilded up against the panel to o'ccupy a minimum space in the recess which space may thus be utilized as a clothes closet, are advantages which will be readily appree ciated by the designers of such apartment houses. Although )eciiically designed for application as described to a recess in a room of an apartment house the same vertically folding bed on a revoluhle panel may be, applied in a sanitarium, or hotel which caters to the prerailing fashion of sleeping in the open air. In this case the panel wouldbe in the outer wall of the house and wouldclose an aperture opening onto a veranda, and there would he no necessity for applyin anyarticlc of furniture to the'reverse side 0 the panel. The bed in such a case could be used either inside or outside of a roomascthe inclination of the occu unit. or the condition of the weather might determine. Iii such application stop moldings could be appliedto the reverse edges of the opposte sides of either. the

)anel or the aperture frame to render the oint draft proof. e

Having now particularly described my invention and the manner of itsapplication, I hereby declare that what I claim as new and desire to be protected in by Letters Patent is: 1.. A bedstead frame ,pivotally supported on brackets outwardly projecting from :1 revoluble' anelor wall section of a room, legs ivotal y connected to theouter end of said. edstead frame, a head frame hinged to the end of the bedstead frame toward the panel to which itis connected, a slide block, 'piv otally mounted on the 11 per rail of the head frame, a guide in which the block is vertically slidahle, a spring actuated latch designed tosecure the slide at the upward limit of-its movement, means for securing said latch in its release position, and means Wherebysuch securing means is automatically released by the downward movement of theslide in its guide.

2. In a room of an apartment house, or the like, the revoluble panel, 12 pivotally'rmounted on a vertical axis, brackets '13 projecting from one face of the pahel, 'the-bedstead frame'lO having swinging legs 14' and across shaft '12 which shaft is desi 'nedtorest in.

hearings in the brackets 13, the head frame 15 hinged to the end of the bedstead 10 -and having pivotally mounted vonitsfu per mil the slide block 17, the guide 18 in w ch said mounted on the in 21 and having a spring 12 'to thehead .end of the bedstead frame, 24 tending to he (1 the latch in engagement and an article of parlor furniture 7 secured With the under side of the slide block 17 to the opposite face of the panel 2 .to the when such slide block is. at the u pward limit bedstead. 5 of its movement, said latch 20 having a tail In testimony whereof I have signed my.

end 22 curved toward the guide path 18, the name to this specification in the presence of spring retaining latch 23 on the opposite side two suhscribingwitne'sses.

of the slide block guide 18 designed to hold NATHA). C. MERRILL the tail end 22 of the latch 20, springs 27 con- Witnesses: mnected by cords 25 overulleys 26 mounted ROWLAND BRITTAIN,

on the brackets 13 vertica y beneath the shaft CLIVE S. CARMAN. 

